Tine holding apparatus and method for aerating soil

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for retaining soil aerating tines during soil aerating operations comprising a tine holding assembly having a plurality of holes therein, wherein each hole is adapted to hold a soil aerating tine therein, wherein the holes are arranged in a plurality of rows of holes, wherein a plurality of spaces separate adjacent rows of holes, wherein the holes of at least one row of holes are positioned between the holes of at least one other row of holes. The apparatus can have at least one space that is at least twice as wide as at least one other space. The apparatus can further comprise a plurality of tine holding members, wherein each tine holding member comprises at least one row of holes of the plurality of rows of holes. Tines can be inserted into the holes to form a zigzag pattern.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a /continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/216,106 filed on Mar. 17, 2014, which claims priority to U.S.provisional patent application 61/852,229, filed on Mar. 15, 2013, andthe U.S. provisional patent application having the Ser. No. 61/852,230,filed on Mar. 15, 2013. The disclosures of the above applications areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus for holding tines inconnection with a soil aerating apparatus and to a method of aeratingsoil.

BACKGROUND

Grounds covered by lawn or turf, especially those forming part of parksor sports facilities, such as golf courses, football fields, orracecourses, require special care and attention to ensure the correctdistribution of grass cover and compactness of the soil. Specifically,the soil surface must be uniformly covered by turf and loose enough toallow good drainage, while at the same time remain compact enough foreasy treading or to allow sports to be played thereon.

In lawn or turf areas, particularly those that experience sustainedvehicular and pedestrian traffic, the turf surface and underlying soilcan become undesirably compacted. The problems associated with soilcompaction are that rain and fertilizing chemicals are prevented fromfully penetrating the soil, which causes the turf area to remain soggyfor longer periods after a rain and inhibits a deep and healthy grassroot system and proper grass growth. Therefore, it is necessary tosufficiently loosen up the soil to allow efficient drainage and to allownutrients to penetrate to the root system, which enhance the cultivationof grass.

Soil or turf aeration is the process of creating channels in the soil sothat water, air, and fertilizers can penetrate the ground and bedispersed effectively throughout the soil. Such treatment of the soilcan be carried out using appropriate implements or machines which makeholes in the soil in order to confer the properties described above.

A number of soil aerating devices exist to try to solve the aboveproblems. These devices may be self-propelled or linked to the powertake-off (PTO) of a tractor and may be equipped with means forvertically articulating a plurality of aerating pins or spikes,typically referred to as tines. The holes can be made in a succession ofsteps comprising driving a mechanism having a plurality of arms (i.e.,tine heads or tine holders), which can comprise a plurality of tinesconnected at the bottom end thereof, which are repeatedly inserted intoand out of the ground (e.g., cycled or reciprocated) while the soilaerating device moves along the surface of the soil, which is typicallycovered by grass or turf.

However, prior art soil aerating devices incorporate aerating techniquesthat are too slow. For example, prior art tine heads typically contain asingle row of tines extending downwardly therefrom. In order to form atight or a closely spaced hole pattern, the soil aerator must cycle thetine head very quickly, resulting in the soil aerators experiencing highrates of wear-and-tear and high breakdown rates, resulting in frequentdown time for repair.

Other soil aerators, which cycle at slower rates, must in turn, moveacross the turf surface at a slower rate, resulting in a slower coveragerate. In order to speed up the soil aerating process, some soil aeratingdevices use tine heads containing two or more rows of tines, which aregenerally referred to as “cluster blocks.” During operations, all of thetines in a cluster block are stamped or inserted into the soil insequence, adjacent to (e.g., in front of) the previous set of holescreated during the previous cycle of the tine head. In order to create atight or a closely spaced hole pattern while using a cluster block, thetines that are held within the cluster block must also be tight orclosely spaced. However, certain tine heads, especially cluster blocks,have too many tines within a small amount of space and can break offand/or lift sections of the turf upon entry and/or exit. To minimizesuch turf damage, the use of turf hold down guards are typicallyrequired.

A need exists for a tine head comprising multiple rows of tines forfaster rate of coverage, wherein the tines do not damage the turf. Aneed exists for a tine head comprising multiple rows of tines that doesnot require the use of a turf guard. A need exists for a tine headcomprising multiple rows of tines to form a tight or a closely spacedhole pattern in a turf without damaging the turf. Furthermore, a needexists for a method of performing soil aerating operations using a tinehead comprising multiple rows of tines without damaging the turf.Lastly, a need exists for a method of forming a tight or a closelyspaced hole pattern in the soil using a tine head comprising multiplerows of tines without breaking off and/or lifting sections of the turfupon entry into the soil and/or exit from the soil.

Embodiments usable within the scope of the present disclosure meet theseneeds.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for retaining soilaerating tines during soil aerating operations. The apparatus comprisesa tine holding assembly having a plurality of holes therein. Each holecan be adapted to hold a soil aerating tine therein, wherein the holescan be arranged in a plurality of rows of holes, wherein a plurality ofspaces can separate adjacent rows of holes, and wherein the holes of atleast one row of holes can be positioned between the holes of at leastone other row of holes. In an embodiment, the at least one space can beat least twice as wide as at least one other space. In an embodiment,the tine holding assembly comprises a centrally located space, whereinthe centrally located space is at least twice as wide as another space.

The present disclosure is further directed to a tine head assembly forretaining soil aerating tines during soil aerating operations. The tinehead assembly can comprise a frame adapted for connection to a soilaerating device and a plurality of tine holding members connected to theframe, wherein each tine holding member can comprise a plurality ofcavities therein along the length of each tine holding member, andwherein the cavities of at least one tine holding member can bepositioned between the cavities of at least one other tine holdingmember. In an embodiment of the tine head assembly, the cavities of eachtine holding member can be separated from the cavities of each adjacenttine holding member by a plurality of spaces, wherein at least one spaceof the plurality of spaces can be at least twice as wide as anotherspace of the plurality of spaces.

The present disclosure is further directed to a method of aerating soil.The method comprises the steps of moving a soil aerating machine alongthe soil in a forward direction, inserting a first row of tines into thesoil to make a first plurality of holes in the soil and simultaneouslyinserting a second row of tines into the soil to make a second pluralityof holes in the soil, wherein the holes of the first plurality of holesare between the holes of the second plurality of holes. The method stepscan further comprise removing the first row of tines and the second rowof tines from the soil, inserting the first row of tines into the soilto make a third plurality of holes in the soil, and simultaneouslyinserting the second row of tines into the soil to make a fourthplurality of holes in the soil, wherein the holes of the fourthplurality of holes are positioned between the holes of the firstplurality of holes.

The foregoing is intended to give a general idea of the invention, andis not intended to fully define nor limit the invention. The inventionwill be more fully understood and better appreciated by reference to thefollowing description and drawings.

DRAWINGS

In the detailed description of various embodiments usable within thescope of the present disclosure, presented below, reference is made tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of an embodiment of a soil aeratingapparatus in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts a perspective view of an embodiment of a tine headassembly in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts a top view of a portion of embodiment of the tine headassembly in accordance with the present disclosure, excluding portionsof the tine head assembly for clarity.

FIG. 4A depicts a top view of a portion of a strike pattern formed by anembodiment of the tine head assembly during soil aerating operations inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4B depicts a top view of a portion of a strike pattern formed by anembodiment of the tine head assembly during soil aerating operations inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4C depicts a top view of a portion of a strike pattern formed by anembodiment of the tine head assembly during soil aerating operations inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4D depicts a top view of a portion of a strike pattern formed by anembodiment of the tine head assembly during soil aerating operations inaccordance with the present disclosure.

One or more embodiments are described below with reference to the listedFigures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before describing selected embodiments of the present disclosure indetail, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limitedto the particular embodiments described herein. The disclosure anddescription herein is illustrative and explanatory of one or morepresently preferred embodiments and variations thereof, and it will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes in thedesign, organization, means of operation, structures and location,methodology, and use of mechanical equivalents may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

As well, it should be understood that the drawings are intended toillustrate and plainly disclose presently preferred embodiments to oneof skill in the art, but are not intended to be manufacturing leveldrawings or renditions of final products and may include simplifiedconceptual views to facilitate understanding or explanation. As well,the relative size and arrangement of the components may differ from thatshown and still operate within the spirit of the invention.

Moreover, it will be understood that various directions such as “upper”,“lower”, “bottom”, “top”, “left”, “right”, “first”, “second” and soforth are made only with respect to explanation in conjunction with thedrawings, and that components may be oriented differently, for instance,during transportation and manufacturing as well as operation. Becausemany varying and different embodiments may be made within the scope ofthe concept(s) herein taught, and because many modifications may be madein the embodiments described herein, it is to be understood that thedetails herein are to be interpreted as illustrative and nonlimiting.

Referring now to FIG. 1, depicting a perspective view of a soil aeratingapparatus, referred to as a soil aerator (200), in accordance with thepresent disclosure. More particularly, Figure I depicts a tine holdingassembly, referred to as a tine head (100), comprising a support arm(60) connected to a tine attachment block (90), which is adapted tosupport one or more tines (11). The support arm (60) is shown pivotallyattached to the first end of the lower linkage arm (230) (i.e., secondlinkage arm) at a lower head pivot (231), located on the support arm(60). FIG. 1 further depicts the support arm (60) pivotally attached tothe first end of the upper linkage arm (235) (i.e., first linkage arm)at an upper head pivot (237) located on the upper portion the supportarm (60). The upper head pivot (237) can allow the upper linkage arm(235) to slide therethrough, allowing relative linear motion, inaddition to pivoting motion, between the upper linkage arm (235) and thesupport arm (60).

FIG. 1 further depicts a soil aerator frame (250), which forms thesupport for the various components of the soil aerator (200). The secondend of the lower linkage arm (230), opposite the first end, is shownconnected to the lower rear portion of the frame (250) at the lowerframe pivot (232). The second end of the upper linkage arm (235),opposite the first end, is shown connected to the rear portion of theframe (250) at the upper frame pivot (239), located above the lowerframe pivot (232). Please note that the soil aerator (200), in FIG. 1,is not depicted with additional upper linkage arms connected between theframe (250) and the additional tine heads, for clarity purposes.

The depicted relative positioning or connection between the support arm(60), the upper linkage arm (235), the lower linkage arm (230), andportions of the frame (250), are configured to maintain the support arm(60) in an essentially constant orientation, which can be set oradjusted to be essentially perpendicular to the soil (5) at all timesthroughout the entire soil aerator (200) cycle of operation. The cycleof operation of the soil aerator (200) comprises a full rotation of acrankshaft (244) and the resulting up and down motion of the support arm(60).

Referring now to FIG. 2, showing a perspective view of an embodiment ofa tine head (100), in accordance with the present disclosure. Thedepicted tine head (100) configuration can allow multiple aeration tasksto be performed with one soil aerator (200, see FIG. 1) by using thetine head (100) of the present disclosure.

A typical prior art deep spike soil aerator uses a tine head comprisinga single tine attachment member, which can hold a plurality of tinespositioned in line. However, the tine head (100) depicted in FIG. 2includes four rows of tines (11), with each row of tines connected to aseparate tine holding member (10, 20, 30, 40), which form a tineattachment assembly (50). Specifically, the tine attachment assembly(50) is depicted comprising a first tine holding member (10) depicted asan elongated block. The attachment assembly (50) is further depictedcomprising second, third, and fourth tine holding members (20, 30, 40)depicted as elongated bars, which are collectively referred to assecondary tine holding members (20, 30, 40). The tine head is shownfurther comprising a tine support arm (60), which is connected to theupper and lower linkage arms (235, 230) of the soil aerator (200) foractuating or reciprocating the tine head (100) as described above andshown in FIG. 1. The support arm (60) can comprise a lateral mountingbar (65) connected at the bottom of the support arm (60), wherein thelateral mounting bar (65) can be removably connected to the firstholding member (10) by a plurality of bolts (61).

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of the tine attachment assembly (50) havinga support frame (70) comprising three generally parallel support arms(71, 72, 73) attached to the first holding member (10). The Figurefurther depicts the frame assembly (70) comprising a single cross arm(74) connecting the support arms (71, 72, 73) to provide the frame (70)with additional structural support to the support arms (71, 72, 73)during soil aeration operations. The support arms (71, 72, 73) are alsoshown comprising a plurality of slots (75) extending along thelongitudinal axis of each support arm (71, 72, 73), allowing connectionbolts (76) to move therein, thereby allowing the horizontal position ofthe secondary holding members (20, 30,40) to be adjusted along thesupport arms (71,72, 73), before tightening the bolts to secure thesecondary bars to the support arms. Although each depicted slot (75)comprises a relatively short configuration, in an another embodiment(not shown) of the tine head (100), each slot (75) can be longer,ranging from one to ten inches, or being as long as each support arm(71, 72, 73). The embodiment of the tine head (100), depicted in FIG. 2,shows a plurality of vertical holes (51) extending through the secondaryholding members (20, 30, 40) usable to receive tines (11) therein. Eachtine (11) can be retained within each hole (51) by a bolt (56) beingthreadably engaged within a hole (57), which extends laterally througheach secondary holding member (20, 30, 40) and intersects each verticalhole (51). Each bolt (56) can be tightened against the side of each tine(11) to retain the tine (11) in the vertical hole (11). As depicted inFIG. 3, the first holding member (10) can comprise vertical bores (52,see FIG. 3) for receiving tines (11), wherein the tines (11) can besimilarly retained by lateral bolts (53) extending through lateral holes(54). Although threadable bolts (53, 56) are shown as the means to lockthe tines (11) within the bores (51, 52), tines can be connected to thetine holding members (10, 20, 30, 40) by any other means known in theart.

In another embodiment (not shown) of the tine head, the support arms(71, 72, 73) and/or the cross arm (74) can also comprise a ruler (notshown), a line gauge, or calibrated lines along the length thereof toassist the operator in measuring the distances between secondary holdingmembers (20, 30, 40) relative to the each other or relative to the firstholding member (10) to assist in setting specific distances between thetines (11).

Referring now to FIG. 3, depicting a top view of a portion of anembodiment of the tine head assembly (100) in accordance with thepresent disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a tineattachment assembly (50) comprising tine holding members (10, 20, 30,40) having the same configuration as depicted in FIG. 2. The tineattachment assembly (50), as further shown, can comprise two generallyparallel support arms (81, 82) attached to and extending from the firstholding member (10). Similarly to the support arms (71, 72, 73) shown inFIG. 2, the support arms (81, 82) can comprise slots (85) along thelongitudinal axis thereof, allowing the secondary holding members (20,30, 40) to be connected to the support arms (81, 82) by bolts (86). Theslots (85) also allow the position of the secondary holding members (20,30, 40) to be adjusted along the support arms (81, 82), therebyadjusting the position and the separation of the tines (11), which areattached to the secondary holding members (20, 30, 40). As furtherdepicted in FIG. 3, the secondary holding members (20, 30, 40) cancomprise slots (55) along the longitudinal axis of the third holdingmember (30) or any other holding member (10, 20, 40), thereby beingoriented generally perpendicular to the slots (85) along the supportarms (81, 82). The slots (55 and 85) allow the second holding member(30) movement along two axes relative to the other holding members (10,20, 40), wherein bolts (86) can be used to lock the second holdingmember (30) to the support arms (81, 82). In another embodiment (notshown) of the tine attachment assembly (50), the support arms (81, 82)can comprise slots that are generally perpendicular to the slots (85),enabling each secondary holding member (20, 30, 40) to have movementalong two axes with respect to the any other holding member (10, 20, 30,40).

Although embodiments depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 depict the tine head(100) having a specific configurations, in alternate embodiments (notshown), the tine attachment assemblies (50) can comprise any number ofparallel tine holding members. The frame (70) can also take the form ofa single rectangular bar, instead of individual arms (71, 72, 73, 74),wherein the single bar can comprise a plurality of longitudinal orlateral slots adapted for connecting and locking the tine holdingmembers (20, 30, 40). In another embodiment (not shown) of the tineattachment assembly (50), the first tine holding member (10) may supportmultiple rows of tines (11). In such embodiment, the first tine holdingmember (10) may be longer and/or wider than depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3,and may comprise a plurality of holes adapted for retaining multiplerows of tines therein and or a plurality of slots for adjusting theposition of the tines, as described above. In yet another embodiment(not shown) of the tine head (100), the support frame (70) can comprisea single plate or can be attached directly to the support arm (60)and/or to the lateral mounting bar (65).

The tine head (100), depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 or any variationdescribed above, can be used on several soil aerators (not shown),allowing such soil aerators to be used as straight deep spike aerators.Specifically, the tine head (100) can include a plurality ofconventional short length tines (11) or a combination of both long(i.e., deep) tines (not shown) and conventional short tines (11). In anembodiment of the tine head (100), the deep tines can be placed in thefirst tine holding member (10) and the conventional tines (11) can beplaced in the secondary tine holding members (20, 30, 40). Therefore,the soil aerator (100) can perform both shallow and deep soil aerationsimultaneously.

As depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3, the horizontal position of each secondaryholding member (20, 30, 40) can be adjusted in relation to each otherand to the first holding member (10) to form a desired tine (11) strikepattern as the tine head (100) is cycled during soil aerationoperations. Sufficient separation between the tines (11) is important inorder to maintain optimal aerating operations. As depicted in theembodiments of the tine head (100), shown in FIG. 3, the tines (11) canbe distributed between the first holding member (10) and the secondaryholding members (20, 30, 40) so that no two tines (11) will be closer toeach other than 2.80 inches, while the reciprocating tine head (100) canform a tine hole pattern having two inches of space between each hole.Other tine hole patterns can also be achieved, for example, tine headpatterns can have square patterns having two to four inches between tineholes or rectangular patterns having a length between one half to twoinches and a width between one half and two inches.

FIGS. 4A-4D depict a tine strike pattern formed by the tine head (100)shown in FIG. 3 as the soil aerator (200) reciprocates the tines (11)vertically into and out of the soil (5), while moving in a forwarddirection (6) along the surface of the turf. As depicted in FIG. 4A-4D,strike locations from tines (11) located on the first holding member(10) are depicted by the numeral 1, strike locations (i.e., holes) fromtines located on the second holding member (20) are depicted by thenumeral 2, strike locations from tines located on the third holdingmember (30) are depicted by the numeral 3, and strike locations fromtines located on the fourth holding member (40) are depicted by thenumeral 4. The tine attachment assembly depicted in FIG. 3 is adapted topenetrate the turf every four inches, wherein during each subsequentstroke of the tine head (100), the tines (11) perforate the soil (5)between the holes created by the previous stroke of the tine head (100).This results in a final strike pattern, depicted in FIG. 4D, havingholes that are closely spaced (e.g., two inches apart), without havingtines (11) that are too closely spaced on the tine head (100). Aspreviously stated, this is an advantage, as closely spaced tines (11)entering and exiting the soil (5) at the same time can disrupt or liftsections of the turf upon entry and/or exit. Because of this lessertendency of the tines to disrupt or lift sections of turf duringaerating operations, the soil aerator (100) may not require the use of aturf hold down guards (not shown) to be used during soil aerationoperations to prevent disruption of the turf.

For example, when the soil aerator (200) is synchronized to strike thesoil (5) for every four inches traveled (e.g., forward spacing of fourinches), the tines (11) can be arranged in a configuration that canresult in a two inch overall pattern, while the tines (11) arepositioned farther apart on the tine head (100). FIG. 3 depicts tines(11) spaced four inches apart on the first holding member (10) to form afour by four square pattern during aeration operations. FIG. 3 furtherdepicts the second holding member (20) located such that the tines (11)thereof are two inches away from the tines (11) of the first holdingmember (10) and comprising three tines (11) spaced four inches apart,wherein the tines (11) are located between (i.e., being offset ordisarranged from) the tines (11) on the first holing member (10) to forma zigzag pattern. The third holding member (30) is shown located suchthat the tines (11) thereof are four inches from the tines (11) of thesecond holing member (20) and comprising three tines (11) that are inalignment with the tines (11) of the first holding member (10), butbetween the tines (11) of the second holding member (20). Lastly, thefourth holing member (40) is shown positioned such that the tines (11)thereof are two inches from the tines (11) of the third holding member(30) and comprises three tines (11) that are in alignment with the tines(11) of the second holding member, but positioned between the tines (11)of the first and third holding members (10, 30). The arrangement of thetines (11) described above can result in a two inch square hole patternwhile the tines only make contact with the soil (5) every four inches,thus more turf area can be treated in a shorter period of time as thesoil aerator (200) can move along the soil (5) surface at a fasterspeed.

When cycling the tine head (100) depicted in FIG. 3, it takes threestrokes of the tine head (100), as the soil aerator (200) moves forward(6), for the third and fourth tine holding members (30, 40) to stampholes between the holes created by the first and second holding members(10, 20) and start forming the desired two inch by two inch squarepattern depicted in FIG. 4D. A tine head (100) comprising multiple rowsof tines (11) and the steps of inserting trailing tines (11) (e.g.,tines on the third and fourth holding members (30, 40)) between holescreated by the leading tines (11) (e.g., tines on the first and secondholding members (10, 20)) as the soil aerator moves forward (6) canspeed up the rate of soil aeration operations and preserve the integrityof the turf.

FIGS. 4A-4C depict the steps of forming the hole pattern depicted inFIG. 4D using the tine head (100) depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 4Adepicts the hole pattern created as the tine head (100) is inserted intothe soil (5) for the first time. Holes created by tines (11) connectedto the first holding member (10) form a row of holes indicated bynumeral 1, holes created by tines (11) connected to the second holdingmember (20) form a row of holes indicated by numeral 2, holes created bytines (11) connected to the third holding member (30) form a row ofholes indicated by numeral 3, and holes created by tines (11) connectedto the fourth holing member (40) form a row of holes indicated bynumeral 4. FIG. 4B depicts the hole pattern created as the tine head(100) is inserted into the soil (5) for the second time, with the arrowsindicating the movement of the tines (11) between the first and thesecond strike. FIG. 4C depicts the hole pattern created as the tine head(100) is inserted into the soil (5) for the third time, with the arrowsindicating the movement of the tines (11) between the second and thethird strikes. 4D depicts the final hole pattern created by the soilaerator (200) after the tine head (100) is inserted into the soil (5)for the third time. FIGS. 4A-4C depict the rows of holes created by thetines of the first and second holding members (10, 20) forming a zigzagpattern and the rows of holes created by the tines of the third andfourth holding members (30, 40) forming a zigzag pattern.

Although the specific strike pattern depicted in FIG. 4D is a result ofthe tine (11) configuration depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3, other tine strikepatterns (not shown), for example, having smaller or greater spacingbetween tines (11), can be accomplished by changing the tine locationson the tine head (100). This can be done, for example, by moving thepositions of the holding members (10, 20, 30, 40) along the frameassembly (70). In another embodiment (not shown), the tines (11) mayhave larger or smaller spacing therebetween, along the length of eachholding members (10, 20, 30, 40). The length of each holding member (10,20, 30, 40) and/or the number of tines (11) on each holding member (10,20, 30,40) may be increased or decreased. For example, each holdingmember (10, 20, 30, 40) may be twice as long as depicted in FIGS. 2 and3, and/or contain two to eight tines (11) attached thereto. Thesecondary holding members (20, 30, 40) may also be moved closer orfurther out from the first holding member (10) and/or relative to eachother. Also, in another embodiment (not shown) of the tine head (100), alarger or a smaller number of secondary holding members (20, 30, 40) maybe incorporated. For example, a tine head (100) may contain one to sixsecondary holding members attached thereto. In a further embodiment ofthe tine head (100), the first holding member (10) may be omitted,wherein the tine head (100) only contains movable secondary holdingmembers (20,30,40).

In another embodiment (not shown) of the tine head (100) and method ofaerating soil, the tine head (100) can comprise only the first andsecond tine holding members (10, 20) and/or move shorter distancesbetween each stroke of the tine head (100), wherein the holes made bythe tines (11) of the second holding member (20) are positioned betweenthe holes made by tines (11) of the first holding member during theprevious stroke of the tine head (100). In another embodiment the holesmade by the second tine holding member (20) can be formed between and inline with the holes made by the tines (11) of the first holding memberduring the previous stroke of the tine head (100).

Prior art tine heads containing two or more rows of tines, which aregenerally referred to as “cluster blocks,” and designed to be stamped orinserted into the soil in sequence, adjacent to (e.g., in front of) theprevious set of holes created during the previous cycle of the tinehead. Because soil aerators do not cycle these cluster blocks in anoverlapping manner, the prior art tine heads require closely spacedtines to form a closely spaced hole pattern in the turf. As previouslyexplained, tine heads having too many tines within a small amount ofspace and can break off and/or lift sections of the turf upon entryand/or exit.

It should be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art that anembodiment of the soil aerator (200) and the tine head (100) inaccordance with the present disclosure can comprise all of theimprovements/features described above. However, it should also beunderstood that each improvement/feature described above can beincorporated into the soil aerator (200) and the tine head (100) byitself or in combinations, without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tine attachment assembly for retaining soilaerating tines during soil aerating operations comprising: a supportframe; and a plurality of tine holding members connected to the supportframe, at least one tine holding member adjustably connected to thesupport frame such that the position on the support frame of the atleast one tine holding member can be adjusted with respect to theposition of at least one other tine holding member on the support frame,wherein each tine holding member comprises a plurality of tineconnectors disposed in at least one row along a length thereof, whereineach tine connector is structured and operable to connect a soilaerating tine to the respective tine holding member.
 2. The tineattachment assembly of claim 1, wherein the tine holding members areconnected to the support frame such that at least one space between rowsof tine connectors is wider than at least one other space between rowsof tine connectors.
 3. The tine attachment assembly of claim 1, whereinthe tine holding members are connected to the support frame such thatthe tine connectors of at least one tine holding member are positionedbetween the tine connectors of at least one other tine holding member.4. The tine attachment assembly of claim 1, wherein the tine holdingmembers are connected to the support frame such that respective tineconnectors of at least one tine holding member are positioned betweenrespective tine connectors of at least one subsequent tine holdingmember.
 5. The tine attachment assembly of claim 1 further comprisingtines connected to at least one tine holding member via respective tineconnectors.
 6. The tine attachment assembly of claim 5, wherein thetines are connected to the plurality of tine holding members and thetine holding members are connected to the support frame such that thetines are configured in a zigzag pattern.
 7. The tine attachmentassembly of claim 5, wherein at least one tine has a length thatdifferent than the length of at least one other tine.
 8. A tine headassembly for retaining soil aerating tines during soil aeratingoperations comprising: a support arm and mounting bar assembly adaptedfor connection to a soil aerating device; and a tine attachment assemblyconnected to the support arm and mounting bar assembly, the tineattachment assembly comprising: a support frame; and a plurality of tineholding members connected to the support frame, at least one tineholding member adjustably connected to the support frame such that aposition on the support frame of the at least one tine holding membercan be adjusted with respect to a position of at least one other tineholding member on the support frame, wherein each tine holding membercomprises a plurality of tine connectors forming a row of tineconnectors along a length of each respective tine holding member.
 9. Thetine head assembly of claim 8, wherein the tine holding members areconnected to the support frame such that at least one space between rowsof tine connectors is wider than at least one other space between rowsof tine connectors.
 10. The tine head assembly of claim 8 comprises fourtine holding members connected to the support frame having three spacesseparating the rows of tine connectors of adjacent tine holding members,wherein a central space of the three spaces is wider than at least oneother of the three spaces.
 11. The tine head assembly of claim 8,wherein the tine holding members are connected to the support frame suchthat the tine connectors of at least one tine holding member arepositioned between the tine connectors of at least one other tineholding member.
 12. The tine head assembly of claim 8, where at leastone tine holding member is adjustably connected to the support framesuch that the position of the respective tine holding member on thesupport frame can be adjusted along two axes relative to at least oneother tine holding member.
 13. The tine head assembly of claim 8 furthercomprising tines connected to each tine holding member via respectivetine connectors, wherein the tines are connected to the tine holdingmembers and the tine holding members are connected to the support framesuch that the tines are configured in a zigzag pattern.
 14. The tinehead assembly of claim 8 further comprising tines connected to each tineholding member via respective tine connectors, wherein at least one tinehas a length that different than the length of at least one other tine.15. A method of aerating soil, said method comprising: moving a soilaerating machine along the soil in a forward direction; inserting aplurality of rows of tines into the soil to make a first plurality ofrows of holes in the soil; removing the plurality of rows of tines fromthe soil; and advancing the soil aerating machine and inserting theplurality of rows of tines into the soil to make a second plurality ofrows of holes in the soil such that an area defined by the secondplurality of rows of holes overlaps at least a portion of an areadefined by the first plurality of rows of holes.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein the holes in at least one row of holes in the secondplurality of rows of holes are at least approximately interstitiallydisposed between respective holes in the first plurality of rows ofholes.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one row of holesfrom the second plurality of rows of holes is collinear with at leastone row of holes from the first plurality of rows of holes such that theholes of the respective collinear row of the second plurality of rows ofholes are positioned between the holes of the respective collinear rowof the first plurality of rows of holes.
 18. The method of claim 15,wherein the holes of at least two adjacent rows of holes in the firstplurality of rows of holes are formed in a zigzag pattern.
 19. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the holes of at least two adjacent rows ofholes in the second plurality of rows of holes are formed in a zigzagpattern.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of rows ofholes comprises at least three rows of holes, and wherein a first row ofholes is separated from a second row of holes by a first distance, andthe second row of holes is separated from a third row of holes by asecond distance that is different than the first distance.
 21. A methodof aerating soil, said method comprising: moving a soil aerating machinealong a soil; simultaneously inserting into the soil: a first row oftines to make a first plurality of holes in the soil, a second row oftines to make a second plurality of holes in the soil, a third row oftines to make a third plurality of holes in the soil, and a fourth rowof tines to make a fourth plurality of holes in the soil, wherein theholes of the first plurality of holes are offset from the holes of thesecond plurality of holes, and wherein the holes of the third pluralityof holes are offset from the holes of the fourth plurality of holes;simultaneously removing from the soil: the first row of tines, thesecond row of tines, the third row of tines, and the fourth row oftines; and simultaneously inserting into the soil: the first row oftines to make a fifth plurality of holes in the soil, the second row oftines to make a sixth plurality of holes in the soil, the third row oftines to make a seventh plurality of holes in the soil, and the fourthrow of tines to make an eighth plurality of holes in the soil, whereinthe eighth plurality of holes are made between the second plurality ofholes and the third plurality of holes, wherein the holes of the seventhplurality of holes are made between the holes of the second plurality ofholes.